Rallapalli Ananta Krishna Sharma

Born on 23 January 1893 at Rallapalli village in Kambadur mandal of Anantapur district, he was educated in Sanskrit, Telugu and Music by his parents, Karnamadakala Krishnamacharyulu and Alamelu Mangamma.

After moving to Mysore, he sought instruction from the chief pontiff of the famous Parakala Mutt. Sharma studied Sanskrit and Prakrit languages at the Chamaraja Pathasala; and music with Chikka Rama Rao, Bidaram Krishnappa and Karigiri Rao.[3] Later, in 1911, he married Rukminamma.

Maharaja's College Faculty:Sitting row-left to right M.H.Krishna (third from left), A.R.Krishnasastry (fourth from left), S.Srikanta sastri (seventh from left), Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma (eighth from left), Standing-bottom row-V. Seetharamaiah (fourth from left) and D.L.Narasimhachar (seventh from left)

Sharma was appointed a Telugu Pundit (a scholar) by Sir Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy, Principal of the Maharaja College of Mysore in 1912 and worked until 1949.(group photo) After which he joined the Sri Venkateshwara Oriental Research Centre, Tirupathi. The then executive officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, Chelikani Anna Rao entrusted Sharma with elucidating the compositions of the great songwriter-singer-saint Tallapaka Annamacharya. These compositions (or kritis) were stored for centuries in the Tirumala temple Bhandagaram (storehouse) on copper plates. Sharma received the project after his predecessor, Veturi Prabhakara Sastry died. He singularly worked on tuning the songs and helped publish seventh and eighth volumes of Annamacharya's compositions. Sharma went on to edit nearly 300 compositions and brought out five more volumes of compositions between 1951 and 1956. He also wrote the notation for 108 compositions and 87 of them were published in the Andhra Patrika. Rallapalli Ananta Krishna Sharma was closely associated with eminent journalist, biographer and writer S. R. Ramaswamy who learnt for sometime the subtle nuances of Carnatic music from the maestro. Among his illustrious students are D. L. Narasimhachar and M. Chidananada Murthy.

Sharma died on 11 March 1979 in Bangalore and was survived by three daughters and two sons. On 23 August 2008, his life-size bronze statue was installed in Tirupathi.

• Ananta Bharati (collection of Sanskrit works)
• Meerabai (1913) (Telugu Khanda Kavya)
• Taradevi (1911) (Telugu Khanda Kavya)
• Vemana Natakopanyasamulu (1928–29)
• Shalivahana Gatasaptashati Saramu (1932) (translation work from the Prakrit into Telugu)
• Saraswatalokamu (1954)
• Chayapa Senaniya, Nrita Ratnavali (1969) (Translation into Telugu)
• Arya (1970) (Translation of Sanskrit work of Sundara Pandya into Telugu)
• Natakopanyasamulu

• Ganakale (1952),
• Sahitya Mattu Jeevana Kale (1954 )
• a few published talks.

• He was honored as "Astana Vidwan" by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams in 1979
• "Sangita Kalanidhi" in 1974
• Honorary Doctorate (D.Litt.) by Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupathi in 1974
• "Ganakala Sindhu" at Sangeeta Sammelan organized by Sri Prasanna Seetarama Mandiram, Mysore in 1961
• "Gana Kala Prapurna" by Andhra Pradesh Sangeeta Nataka Academy
• "Sangeeta Kalaratna" by Bangalore Gayana Samaj

Birth Centenary Celebrations of Rallapalli Ananta Krishna Sharma were organized in 1993. A Centenary Souvenir was edited by Medasani Mohan and published by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams in 1994.[4]

• Official website of Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma